Anyone that knows me knows that I'm a sentimental hoarder. Receipts, tickets, playbills, keycards, notes-you name it, I save it. I'm not sure when my habit of saving everything started, but judging by the boxes of stuff on the top shelf of my closet, it's been many years.

Initially my ideas to create a giant scrapbook of all my vacations and favorite memories. However, that turned into a shoebox full of everything I could possibly save and consider a memory. While the shoebox grew in size, the scrapbook never did-in fact, it never even began.

After returning home from Paris, I finally decided to unpack my bag as well as put away Christmas gifts I had received. When I pulled out the photos I had taken in Paris, I found myself in a dilemma: do I hang these up at home or in my dorm? Somehow, that turned into a life crisis where I decided to start cleaning my entire room and decide what is and isn't worth keeping anymore.

Sounds easy right? A ton of old receipts, tickets, and hotel room cards that don't work anymore-why should I keep them? Some part of me alway believed that I'd want to look back on all of it and remember where I was and that always kept me from throwing anything out. While that was true for many things, there were some items I pulled out of the box that I wasn't sure where they had even come from. Realizing that I had items with no meaning, I finally developed a mindset where I became okay with throwing things out. Honestly, once I started I didn't stop; I cleaned out my desk, my closet, my bookshelf and the chest in my room.

I ended up getting rid of a lot more than I had expected. From my desk I got rid of old papers, iPod cases and broken chargers. From my bookshelf I got rid of half used notebooks from 2011 and jewelry that I hadn't worn since I was twelve. From my closet I was able to donate a bag full of clothes that I had been keeping for sentimental purposes, but realized it was time for them to go. The chest had been full of cow (my favorite animal) stuffed animals that I had received over the years and after a lot of thought, I decided to donate them so other kids would be able to enjoy them too. In total, cleaning my room accumulated two bags to be donated, two bags for the garbage, and a lot of papers to be recycled.

Although it was hard at first, I'm really glad that I got over my fear of throwing things out. I realized it doesn't take a receipt or a ticket for me to remember where I've been. It felt as if cleaning the space in my room had cleared the space in my head and now I could go back to Binghamton knowing that I'd return home to an organized room. I learned that it's not always about material items, but it's about the experience and the stories that will stick with you, even when the items are gone.